Christmas is all around us

 

Part of the community room
where my stocking is hanging



"When you make loving other people your passion, there is no end to the miracles in your own life." - Paul Goetze

This truth is becoming more and more of a reality to me, even though I'm trying to grow in my own way while at DTS. Living to bless other people is so counter-intuitive to what your culture tells us is the best way to live. But I believe that much of The Way, Jesus calls us to live is also against the grain.

Last week I was in charge of setting up Christmas stockings for everyone on base. There are 101 in total! It was so fun to see the child-like excitement when people saw their names labelled on a stocking. I also helped another base staff member with getting a little party set up so everyone in base could decorate a Christmas tree and have some holiday fun. Well, he really did most of the work!

I know there is snow back home in Oakville and Ottawa, but I'm not really missing it. However there is a lot of stuff falling from the sky in Brisbane too. It's just in the form of rain. All of December is expected to be quite wet, and there has been some localized flooding in this state and the one to the south of us. Please pray that the bulk of the heavy rain will skip us and that we are all safe in and around the YWAM Brisbane base. And praise God that I brought my Kamik rain boots with me. They are a blessing!

This upcoming week (which is Week 7 of my DTS) we are studying aspects of the Holy Spirit. I'm really looking forward to it, because I'm finally able to fully grasp some of the stories my Opa and Great Uncle Paul used to tell regarding their life's leading by the Holy Spirit. I feel really connected to them, and feel so blessed to have a strong family history that is firmly planted in God.

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And they will call him Immanuel, which means "God with us." Matthew 1:23 (NIV)

...it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NIV)